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Ziploc Gardening
Growing Plants in Bags Student worthiness This activity was tried at least once by multiple students and was successful.Category:Biology in elementary schools Primary biological content area covered Plant life cycles; Observing and recording; Reflecting; Investigating; Hands on learning. Materials *1 Quart size clear plastic Ziploc© bag for each student *Paper towels *Water *A variety of dried beans (i.e. lima, kidney, baby bop) *Permanent marker *Copies of observation handouts *Hand lenses *Ruler Handouts Students should use the worksheet entitled "Predictions" to illustrate and describe their predictions about what they think the plants will look like when they are finished growing. Students should also have the worksheets entitled "Observations" so they can illustrate and record their observations during plant growth in order to then go back and compare their predictions to the final plant. Description of activity This activity is fairly straight forward and simple. Each student will grow a plant from a bean that is placed in a bag. As the plant grows, students will observe how its appearance changes daily, and then again over a longer period of time, such as two weeks. Lesson plan # Soak the beans in water for at least 24 hours. # Each student will then receive a plastic bag, a paper towel and three different types of beans. T # The students will first identify (with help from a guide or the teacher) what type of beans they have, and then label the bag accordingly. # They then fold the paper towel into quarters and dampen it. # Next, students will place the moist paper towel into the bag with the bean. (If the paper towels start to dry out throughout this process, re-moisten them without taking the towels out of the bag.) # Make sure the student can identify which bean is which, so they can have a better record of growth for each bean. # Walk around the room, observing the students, and maybe quiz them on which bean is which, asking them critical questions, such as "What is different about the lima bean compared to the kidney bean?" # The students should then blow some air into the bags and seal the bags. # The bags should be placed somewhere in the classroom where they will get plenty of sunlight. # Using their "Observations" worksheet, students should observe their plants everyday for about two weeks, watching for signs of growth. # Students should write on their observation sheets once a day throughout the growing process of the plants. Potential pitfalls The most obvious pitfall of this activity is that one or more of the student's plants may not grow. Make sure all the plastic bags are sealed completely so the moisture does not escape. If the moisture escapes, the plants may not grow. However, if the paper towel inside the bag dries out it can be moistened by adding some more water. Math connections Students will be able to measure the size of their bean sprout growth using a ruler. This can lead them to fractions and decimals as the bean will grow slowly. They can make comparisons throughout their records between the different stages. Students can also possibly make graphs of their findings to supply them with a clearer picture of the actual growth taking place in each step of the growing plants development. Students can also compare graphs with one another identifying potential reasons why some beans did not grow as well as others. Literature connections One could read the book The Gardner, a picture book about gardening, by Sarah Stewart. Another book that would pair well with this lesson is The Giving Tree, written by Shel Silverstein. Tell Me, Tree, by Gail Gibbons is also a good picture book that talks about photosynthesis and how to identify different types of plants and trees. Connections to educational standards Vermont Grade Expectations: S3-4:2 Students demonstrate their understanding of predicting and hypothesizing by... Identifying simple patterns of evidence used to develop a prediction and propose an explanation. S3-4:4 Students demonstrate their ability to conduct experiments by... Recording data at various points during an investigation by reporting what actually happens, even when data conflicts with expectations AND Recording the sequence in which events take place. Next steps This activity is an introduction to a lesson or unit about plant life cycles. The plants that the students have grown can be used to identify parts of a plant in a later activity for the unit. You could also execute a lesson about how a plant grows and develops over time.